Dragline bucket



Dec. 3, 1957 v U1 1 2,814,890

DRAGLINE BUCKET Filed March 2, 1954 INVENTOR v VICTOR MUTTI ATTORNEY United StatesPatent O DRAGLINE BUCKET Victor E. ,Mutti, Bremen, Ind.

Application -March 2, 1954, Serial No. 413,616

2 Claims. (Cl. 37-135) This invention relates to dragline buckets.

.In dragline buckets in common use today, the buckets are pulled along the ground to scoop up earth and other material, whereupon the bucket is pulled upwardly by a hoisting cable and moved by a crane to the point at which the load is to be dumped. The buckets are unbalanced to dumpby gravity, and in being moved from the scooping point to the dumping point, the buckets are maintained horizontal by a balancing cable.

In such conventional constructions, the bucket is suspended at opposite sides thereof from the lower ends of a. pair. of spreader :chains connected at their upper ends .to a loop which is swung from the housing of the dump sheave around which the balancing cable passes; The hoisting cable is connected to the top portion of the sheave housing. As a result, the load is susepnded'through the sheave housing which naturally holds the sheave in .a rigid position. Accordingly, the sheave is not free to align itself with the balancing cable due to the side sway which occurs in this type of device.

Moreover, the dump sheave and associated elements constitute a single .unit which must be replaced'in its entirety whenwear occurs, and the replacing of thisunit is relatively expensive. In view of the fact that the entire load is carried by thehousing of the sheave, such housing must be constructed quite heavily to Withstand the stress towhich it .is subjected and is much heavier than is required to Withstand the stress to which it is subjected by the balancing cable.

An important object of the present invention is to provide an improved dragline bucket construction, and particularly with relation to the sheave unit, the sheave housing being relieved of all bucket loads and being called upon solely to withstand the strains to which it is subjected solely by the balancing cable, thus permitting use of a lighter construction.

A further object is to provide such an arrangement of parts wherein the sheave itself is capable of universal movement relative to the line of pull of the load, thus permitting the sheave to accommodate itself to the plane of the balancing cable, thus permitting the sheave to turn freely at all times and relieving the cable and sheave of unnecessary strains.

A further object is to provide such an apparatus wherein the load of the bucket and contents is supported by means of a swivel hitch about which the sheave housing is relatively rotatable, the swivel hitch carrying the entire load independently of the sheave and its housing, thus permitting the housing to be made reasonably light in weight.

A further object is to provide an apparatus of this character wherein the sheave housing is reversible relative to the swivel hitch, thus permitting more uniform wearing of the parts and lengthening the life of the apparatus.

A further object is to provide a unit of this character made up of separable parts whereby, upon the undue wearing thereof, any part can be replaced without the necessity for having to replace the entire unit.

2,814,890 Patented: Dec. 3, 1957 Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing I have shown one embodiment of the invention. In this showing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a dragline bucket and associated parts showing the invention applied,

Figure 2.is an enlarged side elevation of the sheaveunit and associated elements, parts being broken away and parts being shown in section, and

Figure 3 is a plan view of the same.

Referring to Figure 1, the numeral 10 designates a dragline bucket which may be conventional and need not be described in detail. This bucket carries the usual teeth Y11 and has opposite walls thereof connected tothe lower ends of spreader chains 12. The bucket is pulled forwardly by means of traction chains 13 connected to a head 14 pulled forwardly in the usual manner.

The device forming the subject matter of the present invention comprises a swivel hitch indicated as a whole by the numeral 16. This hitch comprises a bearing or sleeve 17 having a vertical axis and in which is rotatable a stem 18 having a yoke 19, depending from a plate 19 which supports the sleeve 17. The plate 19' is connected to the lower end of the stem '18 by a-nut 20 threaded on the stem 18. The upper ends of the spreader chains'12 are connected to the yoke 19. At its upper end, the stem 18 is provided with a head 21 resting on the upper end of the bearing .17 and having at its upper end an eye ,22 connected to the lower end of a suitable fitting 23 carried by the lower end of a hoisting cable 24. The yoke 19 and head 21 constitute load transmitting members having the pin 18 interposed therebetween in the line of the load. A preferably integral ear 25 projects from one side of the bearing 17 as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

A sheave housing indicated as a whole by the numeral 28 is connected to the ear 25. The sheave housing comprises a pair of spaced side plates 29-shaped in profile as shown in Figure 2, one end 30 of each side plate being relatively wide and the opposite end 31 being rela tively narrow. The plates 29-are arranged against opposite faces .of a spacer 32' shaped generally to conform to the profile of the plates 29 and bolted thereto as at 32'. At the larger ends of the plates 29, the spacer is cut away arcuately as at 33 for a purpose to be described. The other end of the spacer is cut away as at 34 whereby the narrower ends of the plates 29 are adapted to straddle the ear 25 to which they are pivotally connected on a horizontal axis by a pin 35. This pin may be fixed in position in any suitable manner and is shown in the present instance as being a straight pin held in position by cotter pins 36. It will be noted that the axes of the stem 18 and pin 35 are perpendicular to each other, and accordingly, the sheave housing is mounted for universal movement relative to the stem 18.

Within the arcuate cut-away 33 of the spacer 32 is arranged a sheave 40 rotatably supported by the side plates 29 by a shaft 41 which may be held in position by cotter pins 42. Around the sheave 40 passes a balancing cable 43 connected at one end as at 44 to the bucket 10 and having its other end passing through the fitting 45 in accordance with conventional practice.

Operation The parts normally occupy the positions shown in Figure 1 when the bucket is to be loaded. The bucket is pulled forward in accordance with conventional practice, whereupon it is ready to be hoisted and swung to the dumping point. The crane is operated to hoist the cable 24, thus lifting the bucket and the load therein, and the cable 43 is controlled to maintain the bucket in the hori zontal position shown in Figure 1 until the bucket is in ml proper position to be dumped. The cable 43 is then slacked off, whereupon the heavier forward end of the bucket will swing downwardly and the bucket will be dumped where desired. The bucket is then swung back to the loading point and the operation repeated.

With prior constructions, the connection of the hoisting cable and spreader chains with respect to each other was through the relatively heavy housing for the dump sheave. The tension applied through such connection was so great that the sheave was forced to take a position in accordance with forces applied thereto by the weight being lifted and by the side sway which occurs in the handling of the bucket. Frequently, therefore, the dump sheave would be arranged at an angle to the plane of the cable 43, thus causing the sheave to bind and to cause undue wear on the parts. After such wear took place, it was necessary to replace the entire unit at substantial expense.

In the present construction, the weight of the bucket and the load of material therein is transmitted through the stem 18, thus relieving the bearing 17 and the sheave unit of any stresses except those applied through the cable 43. These stresses are only a fraction of those present due to the lifting of the relatively heavy weight of the bucket and its contents; therefore, the sheave housing may be made substantially lighter than heretofore. The bearing 17 is free to turn on the vertical axis of the pin 18, supported by the plate 19, and the sheave housing is free to turn on the horizontal axis of the pin 35. Thus the sheave 40 automatically aligns itself with the cable 43 to relieve any binding of the parts and undue wear thereon.

The characteristics of the construction, accordingly, are such that the sheave unit will last much longer than heretofore. When wear occurs in the bearing of the sheave, the cotter pins 36 may be removed, the bearing pin 35 may be pulled out, and the housing 28 inverted. The bearing pin 35 then may be replaced as shown, and subsequent wear will take place at the opposite side of the bearing of the sheave, thus doubling the already long life provided by the features of the present construction. When worn beyond repair, the sheave itself readily may be replaced at a minimum expense, and the same is true of the pin 41 if unduly worn. When excess wear occurs around the pin 35, this pin and the sheave housing may be replaced, and the same is true of the elements of the swivel hitch 16. Accordingly, any worn parts may be replaced at minimum expense without replacing the entire unit.

When the pull on the cable 43 is released for dumping, the sheave housing will swing downwardly as suggested in broken lines in Figure 2 and will swing back to its normal position when a pull is again transmitted to the cable 43. It will be apparent that all parts of the device are freely movable relative to each other.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention as shown and described is to be taken only as a preferred embodiment of the same, the invention being defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A dragline bucket construction comprising a bucket, means connected to said bucket for suspending it, a hoisting cable, an elongated vertical pin connected at its lower end to said means and at its upper end to said cable for directly transmitting from said means to said cable the weight supported by said means, a plate carried by and fixed to said pin, a sleeve mounted for turning movement about said pin intermediate the ends thereof and supported at its lower end on said plate, a dump sheave, a housing rotatably supporting said sheave, and means connecting said housing to said sleeve for turning movement on a horizontal axis.

2. A load supporting and dump sheave mounting for dragline buckets comprising an elongated vertical pin, an upper load transmitting member carried by the upper end of said pin, a lower load transmitting member carried by the lower end of said pin and provided with a plate fixed thereto perpendicular to the axis of said pin, a bearing sleeve surrounding said pin intermediate the ends thereof for turning movement thereabout and engaged at its lower end with said plate to be supported thereby, a sheave, a housing rotatably supporting said sheave, and a pivot pin connecting said housing to said bearing sleeve for turning movement on a horizontal axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 497,654 Grandpre May 16, 1893 1,328,013 Page Jan. 13, 1920 1,626,861 Murray May 3, 1927 1,836,867 Page Dec. 15, 1931 2,482,829 Adams Sept. 27, 1949 2,623,732 Morgan Dec. 30, 1952 

